The second season of The Voice Kids concludes on Saturday night with MBC broadcasting the live finale from Beirut at 10.30pm UAE time. Where last year's winner, Lebanon's Lynn Al Hayek, was favourite to take out the competition, this year's batch of finalists (all aged between 7 and 14 years old) should provide a more competitive night with each of the pop-star judges in with a shot of nabbing the winning mentor's crown. Let's take a look at the three competing sides.
Team Tamer
The Egyptian pop-star Tamer Hosny has done a good job this year as coach. Where last season you felt like he was more interested in the fan-fare than the actual job of mentoring, this season found him more hands-on with his charges and as a result has two good finalists on his hands.
Iraq’s Nour Wassam is indeed a star in the making. Her husky tone and powerful vocals should appeal to older voters. The only thing in her way are her nerves, which can often get the better of her.
Meanwhile, Egypt's Ashraqat Ahmed continues to get better with each round. Hosny’s hands-on approach resulted in Egyptian singer conquering her nerves and singing songs that are more ballads than energetic kid-pop.
Team Nancy
All the kids love Nancy Ajram. For many of them, being chosen for her team is akin to winning the title. That added enthusiasm made the Lebanese pop star’s job somewhat easier when putting them through their paces. While her coaching is more on the psychological side than technical, you are guaranteed that her two finalists will be match fit for tonight’s bout.
Lebanon’s George Assi is a slick performer. With his photogenic appearance and mild-mannered demeanour, expect him to be in fashion runways in addition to concerts if he is crowned the winner.
Meanwhile Legai Al Masrhy could be the competition's dark horse. With no Saudi winning a major singing talent competition since Hamza Hawsawi's X Factor title in 2015, Al Masrhy's smooth take on Khaleeji ballads should get him strong voter support from the GCC. However, one wonders if he would have been an even stronger candidate had he chosen to join Kadim Al Saher's side (whose work is more in line with Al Masrhy's style) than Ajram's.
Team Kadim
Anyone who follows Kadim Al Sahir's coaching on the adult version of The Voice and The Voice Kids, know the Iraqi superstar takes these gigs seriously. It was the reason why his charge, Al Hayek, won last year's season so convincingly. Despite his benign demeanour, you need to put the work in if you want to continue on his side. His final two is another strong selection of raw talent.
If Maraya Qahtan wins it will be a lovely story. The young and impossibly cute singer is a welcome reminder that not all news from Yemen is bad. Her progress has been creating a buzz back home and rightly so, from the opening notes of her audition – which had all three judges press the button immediately – to her growth as a more confident singer, Qahtan has been warming many hearts.
Joining her on Saturday is Hamza Labeid - the 10-year-old Moroccan has become a smoother performer under Al Saher's eye. His performance of Wahashtani in last week’s semi-finals shows that Labeid has the voice and persona for stardom.
The Voice kids airs on Saturday at 10.30pm UAE time on MBC. For details go to www.mbc.net
__________________
Read more:
[ Lebanese singer Elissa collapses during Dubai performance ]
[ Dubai Fountain: The stories behind the music ]
[ Late Egyptian actress and singer Shadia's road from stardom to spirituality ]
__________________
